Knope of the Week: Heather Gantz, Waldron Senior Consultant

Posted on May 3, 2013

After a long holiday break including a brief jump off the fiscal cliff, the Knope of the Week is rested and ready to anoint the standouts in the local government arena for 2013. This year recipients will not only the incredible fame and glory associated with the award, but they will be recognized with a token of appreciation that will only be known by the recipients.

Before we move forward, take a look back at the 52 recipients from 2012. Each recipient will tell you that life has changed dramatically with the recognition, similar to a lottery winner minus the money and notoriety. ELGL proudly notes that before awarding a Knope of the Week we test the potential recipient for performance enhancing drugs. We also proudly note that those individuals have no idea that they’ve ever been tested.

Now onto the beginning of a new year, the 15th recipient for 2013 is …

Heather Gantz

Waldron, Senior Consultant and ELGL Advisory Board Member

The Resume Review with Heather Gantz did not disappoint. Attendees were offered a glimpse into the evaluation process used by one of the major executive recruiting firms. Waldron has developed an impeccable reputation from their comprehensive process used in assisting public entities with executive searches.

Heather has been a valuable resource to ELGL through her work on the advisory board, her willingness to meet individually with members to discuss job recruitments, and her willingness to review more than 50 resumes submitted for this year’s Resume Book.

There were a number of takeaways from this week’s forum, some of which can be found here – Waldron HR Resume Handouts. Other takeaways:

Waldron also helps with career transition am placement. The only firm with an office in Oregon.

Ideal résumé shows chronological history of career but is also forward thinking for a new employer to preview.

Only a handful of ELGL Resume Book resumes included a summary, which Heather Gantz strongly recommends.

ELGL Resume Book resumes occasionally used too small font. It’s okay to have a two page resume so its readable.

Another suggestion: don’t use an inappropriate email address or current employer email address

Bullets are preferred. Easier to get an overview and to skim.

Include references in an entirely different document. Not in your résumé document.

Stay away from overly generalized verbs. Take ownership of accomplishments and do not use “we” when it was yours alone.

Developed created generated planned executed- lots of great action verbs you can use to give your resume some “ooomf.”

Hybrid resume is a combo of a functional and chronological résumé.

Functional résumé breaks experience into organized segments. Great if you want to make a slight career change or downplay short tenures.

Be confident in your résumé story.

If you are having trouble filling a category on a functional résumé it’s not a good category.

Recruiters won’t check recommendations until later in the process. Don’t need to incl with resume.

Waldron does extensive backgrounding before they begin a search. Upfront time benefits during the process.

Waldron takes great pride in the communities they work in and so they don’t cut corners during recruitments.

You can have TOO many recommendations on LinkedIn. Looks like you are over compensating.

If you have not Googled yourself you should, esp in public sector. Recruiters do social media searches. LinkedIn profile is important.

You will automatically end up in the “no” pile if your tenure is sporadic or short.

Waldron recruitments are heavily network driven. ELGL is your local govt network! We are here to help.

Heather Gantz font choice? Something easy to read: Arial, TNR, Garamond. Font size no more than 12 no less than 10.

Best way to show/prove you have soft skills in a résumé? Thematic trends in word choice – collaborate, helped, worked with

Look at similar job descriptions for commonly held KSAs that will help you tailor resumes.

Save a text version of your résumé to see how it looks in an applicant tracking system that does not allow uploading.

With applicant tracking systems always upload your résumé if you are given the option. Will look much better.

In major municipal Oregon recruitments, there can be 125+ resumes submitted so you have to make your résumé stand out.

Cover letters help you showcase relationships and networks. Some hiring managers don’t read the bc they are so focused on experience.

Every recruiter and hiring manager will read a résumé differently. You have to cover all of your bases. Makes it hard!

Community involvement, extra curricular activities are important for public sector resumes. ELGL is good to include!

It’s not relevant when you got the degree just that you got the degree. Best to place education at end of the document. Showcase experience.

You don’t need to list your GPA if you are out of school. Same with year of graduation.

Heather says: make it clear if you were the department leader or a team member.

Functional résumé breaks experience into organized segments. Great if you want to make a slight career change or downplay short tenures.

Hybrid resume is a combo of a functional and chronological résumé. Heather highlighted Pat Mobley’s resume as one that has effectively used the hybrid resume.